1:32 Spitfire Mk I

A machine from the summer of 1940

The Spitfire of the first series entered the Battle of Britain with a variable-pitch propeller, with armored glass in the windscreen added as it went along, and with an armament of eight machine guns in the wings. Within a few months it went through a series of small changes that show on a model mainly in the shape of the cockpit: the flat canopy of the early aircraft gave way to a domed one so that taller pilots fitted under the glazing without stooping.

Flat and domed glazing

The difference between the two forms matters to a modeler, because the bars run differently on each of them and the mask has to match the part in the kit. The sheet carries two masks for the canopy, separately for the outside and for the inner surface, and three parts for the national insignia.

How to build it

The British scheme of 1940 combines dark green and earth brown on the upper surfaces with a hard division laid out by template. The underside was usually light blue and on some aircraft an asymmetric black and white arrangement appeared. The glazing masks stay in place throughout, including the application of the gloss clear coat under the decals.

Propeller and rear-view mirror

Early examples flew with a two-blade wooden fixed-pitch propeller, replaced during 1940 by a three-blade metal one with adjustable setting. A rear-view mirror appeared above the windscreen, square on some aircraft and teardrop-shaped on others. The mirror is fitted right at the end, after the masks come off, because it could not be placed accurately under the film.

Classification

The item is listed among masks for painting aircraft models and does not itself include a kit.